Family Therapy / Ed

Family Therapy – Your family is one of the most influential forces in your recovery. At The Villa Treatment Center, we encourage them to participate in family events and alternative family counseling.

There is a greater chance of recovery when the individual has the understanding and support of their family. Addiction is a disease that affects not only the afflicted but their entire family as well. Great strain is placed on these relationships, trust is lost, wits are at an end.

Therapy Can Help Bring Family Together

When a family member goes through a serious addiction, many things take place inside a family unit. Family members notice the individual pull away from them, finances become compromised, thoughts and behaviors of the individual are not entirely clear or rational, and the person they once knew has changed. Family members can feel anxiety, worry, betrayal, sadness, and anger toward their loved one who has been plunged into addiction. It’s painful and frustrating to deal with someone who is hurting themselves through addiction. There is often confusion and hurt feelings on both sides, and considerable miscommunication. Family members need therapy and guidance just as much as those directly suffering from addiction. We understand that this time is difficult and not every family member will feel that they need or want to commit to family therapy.

We want to stress that there may be a better time that fits your needs and the needs of your family to integrate full family therapy. After the initial intake process, we study the individual and their personal needs as well as where they are in their recovery process or in their acceptance of addiction. Family therapy can consist solely of the nuclear family (husbands, wives, children) but can also include close friends, cousins, grandparents, and parents. Your therapist will recommend the best course of action for family therapy, and you will ultimately decide who will be involved in your recovery.

We understand that this transition into inpatient care may be difficult since you may feel further isolated from your family, but we want you to know that you have our support. Family therapy will help to make this transition into full-time recovery much easier to accept. With distance and counseling, your family will learn more about your addiction so they may help you overcome the obstacles to recovery and avoid relapse following treatment.

Family Communication Changes Everything

During your time in recovery you will learn that you’ve been emotionally blocked and cut off from communication for a very long time with your loved ones. In addition, we become distant and emotionally unavailable. We do not think of what we can contribute to our family but what we can get from them.

Family therapy and education can help you understand how your addiction affects your family and what they need from you. Conversely, your family will come to understand your addiction, the lack of control you have over it, and the steps necessary for your recovery. This treatment process is not soley focused on the individual, but every single person in the family unit that has been affected. Often family members feel neglected and forgotten because treatment is focused on one person and is fomenting a change in that individual that they were unable to bring about on their own. In truth, they were just as powerless over their loved one’s addiction as he/she was. With our family therapy and education treatment here at The Villa Treatment Center, we make sure that no one is left behind during recovery therapy because we are all individuals with specific needs that must be addressed. In order for recovery to be all inclusive, family healing is necessary.

Family therapy will help:

  • Cultivate communication skills
  • Embrace understanding
  • Learn more about addiction
  • Families work through their emotional distress
  • Learn alternative methods of support

Family Education

The education aspect of family therapy applies to understanding each family member’s needs and how they feel throughout the recovery process and in their own personal trials with addiction in the family. Not only do we educate family members on the different types of addiction and how it affects their loved ones, but we also delve into how it could affect them and their mental health. Family education meetings come in many formats, and we like to integrate as many as possible to see which method works best for all involved. We care about our patients deeply so you can expect our complete dedication and compassion throughout.

Our family therapy and education options include:

  • Al-Anon/Alateen
  • Family therapy
  • Family visitations
  • Family dinners
  • 24-hour phone support for all family members

 

Family Support Groups and Methods

Al-Anon and Alateen are subsets of our 12-step modality. These are models for our family group therapy programs that are given for family member support. These meetings are for family members only and not meant for those in recovery. We offer these meetings to allow family members an opportunity to express themselves without worry and pressure from their recovering family member’s presence. This offers them the anonymity they need to engage fully in peer-supported therapy as they are surrounded by other family members with the common goal of restoring the family that has been ravaged by addiction. Here family members can offer each other support and can learn more about their family member’s addiction or disease before stepping into close-knit family therapy.

We also offer phone support for family members who wish to call and ask questions as difficult or new situations arise. We want the family and our recovering clients to think of The Villa Treatment Center as a home away from home and to feel comfortable expressing themselves so we can help them live healthier lives emotionally and physically.

Stronger Together

We are stronger when we are united. The best way to achieve this unity is through family therapy and education. As we learn more about each other we acquire compassion and understanding. Family members can suffer from addiction even if they are not addicted themselves. It’s important to build strong relationships and not allow ourselves to be enablers or to lose ourselves in addiction. A family can be restored to health through compassion and support combined with firm, clearly defined boundaries.

Call The Villa Treatment Center today and find out more about how you can help support your loved one through addiction treatment for drugs and alcohol today.